Mixed feelings as residents return to bushfire towns

Residents from bushfire zones have travelled through charred landscapes bordering the Arthur highway today for the first time in a week.

ABC TV: Peter Curtis

Residents and shack owners on Tasmania's fire-ravaged Forestier and Tasman Peninsulas were allowed to return to their properties for the first time today.

After being closed since last Friday's bushfire emergency, the Arthur Highway has finally re-opened, but not yet to the general public.

For many who were re-united with their homes in the worst-hit towns of Dunalley, Murdunna and Sommers Bay, all they could do was sort through the rubble, looking for any valuables they could salvage.

Sam Chaffey's family shack, which he built with his father in 1954, did not survive the inferno.

"Was a little bit teary but you know there's a lot worse off than me.

"I've still got my boat, and the jeep and everything, the caravan's still there you know a lot of people lost everything," he said.

The experience was traumatic even for residents whose homes survived, with some feeling guilty they were spared.

The Tasmania Fire Service now says about 200 properties were either destroyed or severely damaged in the bushfire which spread from a burning stump at Forcett on Thursday last week, and became a wildfire the following day in heatwave conditions.

The Health Department is warning those who are returning to be aware of the dangers posed by asbestos and other hazardous materials on fire-affected properties.

The Arthur highway is expected to re-open to the general public on Sunday.